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30.6.11

One of the big "things" in 1988 and 1989 - the smiley face! Created in the 1960s and long associated by us plebs with kids' badges and jolly tea mugs, the face was suddenly the symbol of a rather frantic and frankly rather naughty progression from the House Music scene called Acid House. I was confused. House music had been created in Chicago in the early 1980s, and the sound had not begun to go wide until midway through the decade.

And now we had ACID House. Say what?!The smiley face was soon cropping up on T-shirts everywhere, accompanied by the slogan "Right On One Matey!" The elders got themselves into a right old stew about it all, whilst many youngsters, bored with being garishly posh, gothy and synthy, eagerly embraced the chance to get sweaty under strobe lights, and move about to weird electronic noises and samples.

And if you had to break into somebody else's warehouse or barn to do it, all the better! Some newspapers seemed alarmed. A new drug culture, and the kids acting up again. Oh dear! Where had Acid House sprung from?The Observer observed in 1988: Drugs Fear as the 'acid house' cult revives a Sixties spectre

"Acid house" started in four London clubs... In the past month it has "taken off", spreading to other clubs around the country.1988 and 1989 were wild. Absolutely evil according to some! The elders were definitely rattled! From the Sun, August 28, 1989:

More than 25,000 youngsters - some aged only ELEVEN - went wild at a huge acid house party yesterday as the police watched helplessly.Dozens of evil pushers raked in a fortune openly selling the mind-bending drug Ecstacy at £10 a time - with a bottle of mineral water to wash it down.A police superintendent and WPC moved through throngs of spaced-out teenagers as dealers chanted "E, hash, weed" to the beat of the music.School-age children rolled their own reefers. But the officers were only there to make sure there was no trouble while notices about the noise were served on the organisers.The 15-hour bash started on Saturday night when hordes of acid house fans converged on the village of Effingham, Surrey.Cars, coaches and vans poured into Newmarsh Farm for the £30-a-head "Energy Summer Festival".Youngsters from as far way as Leeds, Swindon and Ipswich screamed "Mental, mental" as lasers lit the sky.Headlines from the Sun CONDEMMING the drug craze flashed on a huge video screen.Party organisers made an estimated £500,000 from the bash - which cost about £50,000 to stage.Police, who only heard of the party hours before, at first stopped youngsters entering the site.But as thousands joined the crush, senior officers decided it was safer to let them in.About 70 police were on duty, but there were only seven arrests - two for alleged drug offences.Police will quiz the organisers and those responsible for the land.A spokesman said:* An acid house bash, tagged The Heat, was smashed at the weekend because it was a FIRE RISK.* Around 10,000 revellers were expected to head for a disused factory at West Bromwich, West Midlands.* But the local council won an injunction to ban the party after fire experts declared the building unsafe.* Only 30 youngsters, mainly from London, arrived at the factory, but were promptly turned away by the police."There could be criminal charges."Michael Grylls, MP for North West Surrey, said: "It is a massive indictment of parents that they allow their children to attend this sort of thing."Fellow Tory Terry Dicks said: "These parents should be fined, if not sent to prison."Monks at a silent order at West Kingsdown, Kent, were disturbed by 3,000 at a nearby acid house party.

Master of a little-known DJ skill called Transformer Scratching (making a record sound like a robot's voice), James Dorrell was hailed as a pioneer of "English hip-hop". Dorrell, who was also in M/A/R/R/S (Pump Up The Volume), was interviewed in 1988 and said of Acid House:

"It's really crazy, psychedelic music. There's no real tune, just lots of studio technology. You can also scratch other bits of records over the top of the beat and add to the effect. The other day I found an amazing old record by Brian Clough of all people! I used this bit where he says, "He's got a good left foot that lad!" over a serious Chicago House groove. It sounded brilliant!"

Mind you, imagination and originality were needed. Dorrell again:

"If I hear another James Brown yelp or This is a journey into sound again I'll scream!"

Despite the '60s psychedelic references (particularly the return of the lava lamp, which became HUGE in the 1990s, reaching its highest ever sales), the new drug culture (just what was this ecstacy?!) and so on, followers of Acid House were not hippies. From what I saw, they were harder, more streetwise, more working class - "On One Matey!" rather than "Peace Man!" The music too was very different. 20th Century Words by John Ayto, describes it thus:

Acid House n (1988) a type of house music with a very fast beat, a spare, mesmeric, synthesised sound, and usually a distinctive gurgling bass noise. Also applied to the youth cult associated with this kind of music, characterised by a vogue for warehouse parties, a revival of psychedelia, and the taking of hallucinogenic drugs. "Acid" may well be the slang word for LSD, although many cultists claim that it comes from the record "Acid Trax" by Phuture (in the slang of Chicago, where this music originated in 1986, "acid burning" means "stealing", and the music relies heavily on "sampling" a polite word for stealing musical extracts).

Did you join in or want to put an end to the "menace"? From the "Sun", November 18, 1988.

We were all hoping for good things for singer Sheena Easton, who hailed from north of the border, and first came to our attention on Esther Rantzen's The Big Time show.

And good things she got - quickly scoring several hits here. It didn't matter if she was a ModernGirl or a traditional stay-at-home, waiting for her hubby to arrive back from his 9 to 5, Sheena could do no wrong...

"All day I think of him - dreaming of him constantly..."

The audience was so thrilled that a balloon was let fly.

Sheena later left us far behind, hitting the USA for a brief (fictional) marriage to Sonny Crockett of Miami Vice and a duet with pop genius Prince.

Who would have believed it back in 1980? In fact, I'd never even heard of The Purple One back then, andMiami Vicewas still a twinkle in a scriptwriter's eye...

Fast forward... From a boiler suited 1980 to a shoulder padded 1987... Sheena with Prince in the video for "U Got The Look".

29.6.11

"Baby look at me and tell me what you see..." We see Doris on the cover of an October 1982 Look-In magazine, which contained an invitation for readers to meet the kids from Fame in an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW!

"You ain't seen the best of me yet, give me time I'll make you forget the rest..."

It had all started as a film in 1980, but now, in 1982, we got Fame the TV series, and Fame fever struck! The series helped start a major fashion trend - transforming leg warmers from useful but boring garments into high fashion.Yes, they were worn on the streets in high summer.

Here's a newspaper advertisement for Fame, the 1980 film, available on Video 2000 in 1982.Videowhat?!Yes, we didn't only have Betamax and VHS to confuse us. Perhaps it was a good job that video machines were too expensive for many of us!

Fame, the TV series, was first shown by the BBC on Thursday, 17/6/1982.From the Daily Mirror, 31/12/1982:

The Kids from "Fame" faced up to the consequences of their phenomenal showbiz success yesterday. They were hemmed in by a crowd of fans and photographers at their London hotel.The singing, dancing, music-playing kids, including Debbie Allen and Lee Curreri, came smiling through as they do in their TV shows.

It was their first night off during a ten-day British tour.

But they were given no time to relax at their hotel when the cameras clicked and they were questioned by a group of children for an ITV programme.

One youngster asked Debbie, who plays teacher Lydia Grant in the series: "What do you do if you want to be a dancer?"

The answer: "Just jump into it and work, work, work."

Then, without further ado, Debbie led Lee Curreri, who plays keyboards ace Bruno Martelli, and the rest of the cast back to rehearsals and work, work, work.

Claire, my little sister, was a Fame devotee well before the end of the year. My diary entry for 8/9/1982 reads:

Claire has gone bats on "Fame". I'm going bats listening to her rambling on and on about it. There's going to be trouble if this keeps up.

17.6.11

Thanks to all those who write in. It keeps me company, and I'm truly grateful.

Lovely recent e-mail from Sita:

We have a very attractive young teacher called Miss Cross at my school who likes to encourage debates. She often joins in and hogs the show because she's very fond of herself and usually able to out-argue any student.

One day recently, she set the agenda: "Let's talk about our favourite decades. What decades were significant, and why?"

Immediately, she started going on and on about the 1970's, how wonderful they were, how hippie they were, how world shatteringly eventful and influential they were...

I pricked up my ears and said: "But surely hippies were 1960s? They may have been around in the 1970s - '80s as well - but they started out in the 1960s?"

"Yes," said Miss Cross, "but the full thrust of hippiedom was felt in the 1970s. Woodstock..."

"But that was 1969!" I said.

Miss Cross went a bit red. "The gateway to the 1970s," she said.

"I disagree," I said. "1969 was not the 1970s."

Miss Cross was looking rather cross, and said: "Well, what decades interest you?"

"Yes, well, that's most interesting. Thank you, Sita," said Miss Cross, looking as though she'd like to slap my face.

My friends and I still talk about that day. And it's thanks to you, Andy, because I took all my info from your blog!

Miss Cross hasn't initiated a debate since, and the decades skirmish was two months ago!

Thank you!

Glad to help, Sita. It does give me the pip when people start glorifying decades (usually the 1970s, unfortunately) when they don't know their facts. Decades are ten year spans and every ten years contains its own significant events, fashions, fads, and are usually interesting enough and significant enough without having to embellish them.

Judging by TV, books and on-line stuff, the 1970s are the exception...

But that's not true. Plenty happened in the 1970s, even if you just stick to the real 1970s!

Of course, the 1980s are priggishly disapproved of because they were the era of Thatcher and Reagan and enormous changes, both socially and technologically. But that's why they're so fascinating. And no amount of attempts to rewrite history can make the ... er... actual 1980s any less so.

5.6.11

1989 living room from Argos catalogue. Blue pastel walls and black, black, black! Black was hugely popular in the mid-to-late 1980s, even TV casings went that colour - a trend which lasted throughout the 1990s. The director's chair on the far right was a must-have - so very, very stylish!

Do you? Do you really? There were so many styles of homes in that decade, each one designed to say something about the occupant and their lifestyle.

But you are not to be diverted. You want your home to give a screamingly 1980s effect, and you are determined. OK then. We'll take a look at popular decors of the 1980s including furniture, knick knacks, clocks, kitchens, kitchen ware, and bathrooms. See what you think afterwards. This is the first of four articles designed to bring the 1980s house back to life.

1989: Black blinds... Mmmm... lovely. Red blinds for the kitchen, of course. An uplighter. Glorious. But a black stand for it might be nicer... And look at that music centre - yuppie heaven...

1989: A very beautiful black ash shelving unit and bed settee. The mixing of black, grey and red in the design of the settee material is so 1980s. Don't you just love it?

As well as black, toy box colours were incredibly in, and this kitchen from 1983 simply shrieks "1980s!

If you were poor in the 1980s, you might have painted the wood chip wallpaper in your hall pink and hung up your Adam Ant mirror. In the modern day, this is only recommended for people who remember the 1980s, liked them, and have fond memories of Adam (I do and so the mirror still hangs). It's not terribly evocative of the stylish 1980s house you are trying to create though, so if you don't have a nostalgic attachment to the decade, avoid.

A wonderful 1980s bed (1989) and, of course, a director's chair beside it. Sleep had never been so stylish! In the 1980s, duvets (known in the early-to-mid decade as "continental quilts" but increasingly as the decade wore on duvets) took over from blankets and candlewick bedspreads.

This late 1980s wall clock is called "The Boss" and features a yuppie gorilla on a lovely red '80s phone, chomping on a banana. I don't recommend it, but remember that the 1980s were actually rather brash and whilst they craved style, their taste was not exactly impeccable. You might like it, however, and it's certainly very much of the decade.

This 1980s Ferrari clock is of a similar style to old monkey chops, but rather more tasteful. I want it all. I want it all. I want it all. And I want it now!

1.6.11

January 1988, and Sue and Ali Osman (Sandy Ratcliff and Nedjet Salih) are the stars of the cover of Woman's Own. The tragic fictional couple are facing the arrival of a new baby and perhaps a bright new future...

Bright new future? Well the past had been anything BUT bright. Turkish Cypriot Ali Osman had come to England in 1975 and married his English wife, Sue, in 1982.

By early 1985, the Osmans were living in a thoroughly grotty flat in Albert Square, Walford, E20. Ali worked as a taxi driver and Sue ran the cafe in nearby Bridge Street.

The light of their lives was their baby son, Hassan.

Sue had been the child of older parents, both of whom never lavished much warmth or affection on her. She grew up emotionally insecure, and was often to be heard accusing Ali of being unfaithful to her.

Good natured Ali had his own problem - he was teetering on the brink of becoming a compulsive gambler.

Insecure Sue had a simple philosphy in life: get at people or be got at.

As well as bubble and squeak, hot tongue and cold shoulder were always on the menu at the cafe and Sue liked to make sure that the likes of Lou Beale (Anna Wing) got a large helping if required.

She worried over Ali's gambling, and sometimes her rants were fully justified. On one occasion, Ali risked the cafe on a bet!

But that bet paid off, showering them in money.

And then, just afterwards, Hassan died.

A cot death.

Sue and Ali were shattered. After her chilly upbringing, Sue found it hard to let her emotions have free reign, Ali experienced sexual difficulties in the wake of the tragedy.

The state of play in 1987: Ali's brother, Mehmut (Haluk Bilginer) and sister-in-law Guizin (Ishia Bennison) are now participating in running the business with Sue and Ali - and the Ozcabs taxi firm is underway (remember Dot Cotton (June Brown) answering the phone for Ozcabs in her "posh" voice?!).

"Sue really annoys me sometimes because she's got no guts. I'd love to liven her up a bit, dress her in some of Angie's clothes, get her out of that cafe, set her up in a business of her own and allow her to make something of her life."

Sandy was into women's rights, and thought Sue should be, too:

"I was under the impression she'd become more assertive. I had visions of a bunch of feminists walking into the cafe one day right in the middle of a typical Sue and Ali fight, and them asking her why she puts up with him.

"No doubt Sue would screw up her nose and ask: 'What do you mean?' But she'd think about it, want to hear more and gradually begin to change her ways to become stronger, more independent!

"I get cheesed off with Sue. She isn't me at all."

And then, in October 1987, Sue announced she was pregnant again.

After years of trying following the death of Hassan, the Osmans were once more to be parents.

The couple's dearest wish.

So, we could be forgiven for thinking that a happy era was on the way for the troubled couple?

Certainly, Sandy Ratcliff and Nedjet Salih believed so when they were interviewed for the January 16th 1988 edition of Woman's Own...

"It's going to be the making of Sue and Ali," said Sandy.

"Neither of them has ever got over the death of Hassan but hopefully the new baby will fill the void in their life."

"Ali is over the moon about being a dad again. It's time they got lucky, isn't it? Hassan has been gone for more than two years and I think Ali was beginning to think Sue would never get pregnant again," said Nedjet.

"The marriage was going downhill. Ali is no angel, but he's had a lot to put up with and has been very tolerant about Sue's depressions. Sue hasn't been easy to live with, she's been such a misery. No wonder he's been looking at other women... although to be honest it's all bravado. He'd get cold feet when it came to it. It's really only Sue he loves and wants."

Some viewers were very involved. Back to Nedjet:

"We've had baby gifts sent in (which will all go to charity), letters of congratulation and wherever I go people stop me in the street and say, 'Well done!' "

"Sue's getting pregnant has put me in a dilemma," said Sandy. "I knew nothing about the baby plans until a few weeks ago when I came back from my holidays and was told that Sue was pregnant again. Sue has gone through enough in the last couple of years. I'm glad she's got her dearest wish. I think she'll make a great mum and I'm sure Ali will be supportive. Hopefully, the story-lines will open up for me, but it also means that if the pregnancy goes well and the baby is fine, it would be very difficult for me to leave without there being another tragedy in the Osman family. I don't think that would be fair on the show or the viewers."

Sue's sour puss attitude and downbeat life were the cause of Sandy's thoughts about leaving the show.

"She's been such an unhappy woman since Hassan died. And it was beginning to rub off on me. I'd go to work, six days a week, be stuck in that grim little cafe and be permanently miserable. I got to the stage when I started to ask myself if I really wanted to spend all my working life playing a misery.

"Now Sue is pregnant and happy I feel differently about the role. So maybe it would be fun to stick around for a couple more years - if I'm wanted."

Sandy linked arms with Nedjet as the interview came to a close.

"I think Sue and Ali are going to be blissfully happy and very successful. Who knows, they might even become Yuppies!"

Of course, being Albert Square, even way back then, blissful happiness was as unlikely as a tiny shoulder pad in 1988.

Shame really.

Many of us daft viewers were certainly hoping that Sue and Ali would be OK.

So, what DID happen?

Well, in a nutshell, the baby brought with it bad times indeed and the Osmans story ended with Sue taking the child ("Ali junior"), and leaving Ali, Ali snatching the child back, and Sue then having a nervous breakdown and being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Before the end of 1989, Ali had left Albert Square, and Sue had disappeared into the hospital.

And so the state of blissful happiness envisaged by Sandy Ratcliff never happened.

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INTRODUCTION

The '80s Actual blog is designed to be an antidote to all those television shows and on-line articles of recent years which examine pop culture - and frequently get it hopelessly wrong! If you sat watching the BBC's "I Love The 1970s" and exclaimed over items being shown "I could swear that was 1968!" or "Wasn't that 1981?" chances are you were right.

If you look at certain '70s fan sites and think a lot of the material written about is actually from the '80s, you are almost certainly correct.

If on-line encyclopedia articles which state that pop culture of 1983 is really 1977, or similar, have you wishing for reality, then '80s Actual is for you.

There is a huge drive in the media and on-line to negate the 1980s, to attribute that decade's innovations and fond memories to other decades, and basically to present it as a completely vapid ten years, not worthy of examination.

I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's just comforting to have a decade people can scapegoat and declare "HORRIBLE"?

This blog is based on actual memories, media footage (thank you, YouTube!) and snippets of newspaper and magazine articles from the 1980s. If you read it here, I think you can rest assured it's accurate, though I can take no responsibility for the newspaper reports from the decade!The '80s Actual blog examines the decade's news stories - from the emergence of Lady Diana Spencer into the public eye in 1980, to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Was it simply "The Greed Decade" as many like to claim? I think not - the '80s saw the emergence of yuppies, but also Red Wedge, the Greenham Common Peace Women, and increasing concern for the environment. It may be convenient to scapegoat the '80s as the cause of all known ills, but the reality of the decade was far different - absolute bedlam, as Right fought Left, idealism fought corporate ambition. The election ofRonald Reagan as American President in 1980, and his second victory in 1984, had a far more decisive effect on the international political landscape than the three successive general election victories of UK Prime MinisterMargaretThatcher in 1979, 1983 and 1987.

Musically, the 1980s saw the beginnings of House Music, the exciting and still evolving world of synths taking centre stage, the evolvement of Rap music into the fully-fledged Hip Hop scene, Band Aid and Live Aid, great Indie, startling Acid House, and Raves...

And there was so much more! The decade truly had something for everyone - and provided a welcome escape for a while from the long-running and boring saga of flared trousers as fashion, begun back in the 1960s!

There are also also '80s Actual sister blogs taking us back to the '70s and '60s - The Real 1970s and Spacehopper.The view of the 1980s presented here is from an English perspective - much of the original '80s material used is from England, but I hope this blog will prove useful and enjoyable to people in the other nations of the UK and much further afield.